| Far from changing the world, September 11 brought
to light existing problems. Mankind was provided with a clear
signal: the key problem of the 21st century must be resolved.
I am referring to the growing gap globally between poverty, deterioration
in living standards, a fall in life expectancy and rise in illnesses
on the one hand, and the well-being, prosperity, technological
progress, rising education standards and growth of intellectual
potential on the other. In other words, we are witnessing a gap
between the citizens of many countries whose lives have been deteriorating
and the citizens of developed countries.
Of course there is no justification for terror or explanation:
terror is rooted in ignoble acts rather than in poverty. But it
is at the very least shortsighted to ignore the background for
the development of this baseness and to fail to understand what
feeds this ignoble behaviour.
After September 11 the international authority of Russia has
grown thanks to the correct and clear-cut foreign policy advocated
by our President.
Over the past year military efforts in combatting terrorism,
primarily in Afghanistan, failed to yield any significant results,
as this problem cannot be resolved by military force alone. Force
is necessary, but it is clearly an inadequate solution. Furthermore
too little has been done in other directions.
When confronted by their own inability to resolve the most acute
problems, politicians have more and more often voluntarily or
involuntarily played out a political farce.
Over the past year everyone has seen that NATO was an inefficient
military and political organisation, that relations between the
USA and Europe were not as cloudless as they had seemed in the
past, that the USA was attempting in many areas to drive forward
its own political course separately from the world community.
However, today there is a need for close interaction and cooperation
between the USA, Europe and Russia to reduce the threat posed
by terrorism and increase global stability.
The results of the past year can be summed up as follows: we
have a better understanding of the problems and also of their
complexity. We need to hasten their resolution.
See also:
Anti-Terror
Coalition
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